Taking stock of Manhattan after Jaspers blow 19-point lead in loss to Wagner

NEW YORK — Manhattan’s start to the season has been, in a word, interesting.

The Jaspers stand 3-4 after Wednesday’s wild 103-101 overtime loss to previously winless Wagner, but not without its share of intrigue between an explosive offense and a defense that has now given up 100 or more points three times this year, including in each of its last two contests.

Reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year Will Sydnor has yet to see the floor while dealing with an eligibility issue, with no timetable for his return. In his absence, the frontcourt of Marko Ljubicic and Fraser Roxburgh has stepped up, but head coach John Gallagher is looking for more aggressiveness after Manhattan surrendered 54 points in the paint to an undersized Wagner squad.

“We’ve gotta get Anthony Isaac being the enforcer, being more physical,” he emphasized. “He’s got the build, he’s got the body, he’s got the motor. Now, you have the right to do what you want to do like you did at Blinn Junior College, and lead the country in rebounding. I just want him to be more aggressive on the glass.”

“It was the shots around the rim that bothered me. When you’re 12-of-27 from three, that’s 44 (percent). I did not like our shot selection around the rim. I thought we had guys open, and that’s the only thing offensively that I circled after the game that I’m upset about. I think that we got trigger-happy around the rim, where we should have just kept it. We got around the rim and we were looking for contact, but the contact wasn’t there.”

As far as a defense that is yielding over 88 points per game on average to opposing teams, the Jaspers’ travel — Manhattan has visited USC and Texas A&M, while also competing in a multi-team event hosted by Hawaii — is to blame for some of the fatigue through the first three weeks of the season. But conditioning aside, a third instance in which Gallagher’s defense has either struggled to hold or lost a double-digit lead has become a pressing issue in Riverdale.

“We’re struggling right now with defending ball screens,” he conceded. “I’m going to be here all night working on it. I’m concerned with our overall physicality in these games. That is my biggest concern right now.”

Help is on the way for the Jaspers, however. Even with no clear return date for Sydnor, the defense will receive an upgrade when Brett Rumpel is cleared to compete. Rumpel, who has not played since November of 2023 due to two ACL tears, has ramped up his physical activity in recent weeks and has been cleared for non-contact drills. Gallagher envisions the St. Bonaventure transfer returning toward the end of December, but already has a role carved out for his veteran once he does get the green light.

“Brett brings something that this team desperately needs, and that is the best on-ball defender that we have,” Gallagher said. “There’s nobody else that I’ve ever coached that has that ability from a physical standpoint. That’s why there’s minutes for him right away.”

“I know this is crazy, but I think we’re really developing. When we do add all these pieces back, we’ll be ripping and raring, ready to go.”

Much like fellow Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Sacred Heart, Manhattan’s offensive firepower is unmatched by anyone else in the MAAC. The onus now is to string together a comparably strong unit on the other end of the basketball, where the likes of Marist, Merrimack and Siena, among others, have established their identities as defense-oriented teams in a conference that is still anybody’s game.

“I like our pace of play, I like our offense,” Gallagher said. “When we’re sharing it like we were, I think we’re scoring at an elite level for college basketball. Now can we add the defense? I think (Rick) Pitino had a great line after (St. John’s) lost at the Garden to Alabama. It was all about defense. I think for us, we have to take those words and we at Manhattan have to really, really buy into the defensive side of the ball right now.”